This is a new step in supporting the companies most exposed to the energy crisis. Exactly a week ago, the Economy Minister, Bruno Le Maire, announced the extension of aid to companies that consume large amounts of gas and electricity until December.
Today, Bercy indicates that this expansion will be accompanied by a simplification of the device that will serve a growing number of boxes.
Announced on March 16 as part of the Economic and Social Resilience Plan, the aid is available from July 4. “This is subsidized aid aimed at compensating for the cost overruns of gas or electricity expenses of large energy-consuming companies,” summarizes the Ministry of Economy, which evokes a double objective: on the one hand, maintaining the production of the sites that consume the most gas and electricity and, on the other hand, support the companies that are most dependent on energy prices. At this level, the criterion used is a cost of gas and electricity greater than 3% of billing for the year 2021.
An extension of the component with a cap of 2 million euros
The system is divided into three parts with respective ceilings of 2, 25 and 50 million euros. The first threshold is the one whose terms and conditions have been modified in the new version of the help. Until now, it has allowed companies that have suffered a drop in their gross operating surplus (EBITDA) of more than 30% in a quarter compared to 2021 to obtain coverage of 30% of their gas and electricity costs. This minimum percentage of EBITDA has now been eliminated.
The other two sections remain unchanged. Companies whose EBITDA is negative and whose amount of losses does not exceed twice the cost of gas and electricity may benefit from coverage of half of these costs up to the limit of 25 million euros. The aid must also remain below 80% of the amount of the losses.
Finally, 70% of the eligible costs may be reimbursed to companies that meet these same criteria and that also operate in one of the sectors most exposed to international competition and listed in the annex to the temporary framework established by the European Commission. In his case, the aid can reach up to 50 million euros.
An endowment of 3,000 million euros
The other good news for the affected companies is, therefore, the extension of the term “in view of the current tensions in the gas and electricity markets”. The objective is to allow them to gather the various necessary documents that must be certified by their public accountant or their auditor.
The two deadlines set for mid-August and mid-September are no longer met. Files relating to the period from March to August can already be submitted until the end of December on the site www.impots.gouv.fr.
Subsequently, the site will specify the dates of presentation of the files corresponding to the last four months of the year. Finally, it should be noted that the service will take into account the regularization of electricity and gas bills that would occur with a lag of several months and could not be provided within the deadlines for submitting the files.
Source: BFM TV
